Secrets and Lies
by Doctor-Who-Merlin-Sg1
Summary: When Merlin is captured by bandits from Cenreds kingdom, he and the rest of the members of the Round Table are thrown into an unexpected adventure, with some possible secrets revealed.
1. Chapter 1

This is my very fist fanfiction hope you like it.

(The words in italics are the persons thoughts)

Merlin was out picking herbs for Gaius one morning when he heard a twig snap behind him. He froze and slowly started to move towards the closest tree without anyone or anything hearing him. When he got behind the tree he saw what had made caused the stick to snap, without making a sound he slowly started to back up but tripped over a log which sent him tumbling down the side of the hill into the muddy creek. He heard someone shout over head and tried to hide behind the nearest bush but the soldier saw him. Taking the risk Merlin ran up the other side of the hill back towards Camelot and out of Cenreds kingdom which somehow he had managed to cross over the boarders without noticing. In the process of darting up the hill he dropped the herbs he had been collecting for the last 3 hours, when he felt something hit him the back of the neck. He has just enough time to take it out and realize what it was before passing out.

"Where is that useless servant of mine?" Arthur yelled from his chambers. It was almost 10 in the morning and Merlin still hadn't brought him his breakfast yet. He heard the door open from behind him, expecting to see Merlin blundering in with some sort of excuse of why he was late when he realized he was about to yell at Lancelot. He bowed to the prince and started to speak "Sire, we have word from the Northern Border, it seems that some mysterious figures have crossed into Camelot, we believe them to be either bandits or sorcerers." Arthur thought about this for a moment then said "get the other knights and horses we ride immediately; let's go see who they really are." 5 minutes later Arthur met Elyan, Gwaine, Lancelot, Leon, and Percival down in the court yard, as they mounted the horses Lancelot asked "Where is Merlin, isn't he coming with?" "No he hasn't been seen all morning, Gaius said he went out picking herbs for him 5 hours ago." Arthur replied. "He shouldn't take that long to pick some herbs, unless he's knocked himself out on a branch or something like that" Gwaine said trying to repress a snigger. "I wouldn't doubt it" Leon said with a smirk. "Well let's get going before the threat that we think is imposing Camelot becomes real." Arthur called out to his knights.

Merlin woke up to shouts all around him, he shot up from the thin bed he was lying on but that was a bad idea, his head started to spin and he had to lie down again. He heard someone approach the tent and quickly pretended to be asleep so he could possibly learn more about what was going on and where he was. "Is he awake yet? I'm getting tired of waiting for him to wake up we need information," the deeper voice of the two asked. "I do not know yet but it shouldn't be long before he does, and if he doesn't then we will make him wake up whether he likes it or not," the other one said with glee in his voice. With this Merlin heard them leave the tent and let out a low sigh of relief. _Now all I have to do is find a way out of here without them knowing about it. _He heard some movement outside the tent and slowly without making a sound or moving the tent he went to the fold in the tent and peeked outside to see what was going on. From what he could gather he was in a camp of about 50 or so men and women they looked like they could be bandits but he got a weird feeling when the two men came in earone man passed by the tent, a feeling he only got when around sorcerer or when Morgana was still around. _This isn't right most sorcerers try and avoid Camelot as much as possible, and the druids aren't this aggressive or brute like._ He saw someone coming towards his tent and quickly backed away from the entrance and lay back down on the mattress and stayed still as possible. A man that he hadn't seen before came in with what looked like bread, and crouched next to him and shook his shoulders. "Emrys, yes I know who you are" the man said at the look on Merlin's face that showed him he wasn't expecting anyone to know that name. "How?" was all Merlin was able to say without coughing. "We haven't met before but I remember several years ago when the Lady Morgana came to our camp seeking refuge, and help with her magic. I remember seeing you sneak into her tent and try and persuade her to return to Camelot because of the knights that were coming to destroy our camp." Merlin just sat there recalling the memory of seeing the man; younger then than he was now, but he still remembered seeing him as he ran with Morgana away from the druid camp and trying to get her to safety before the knights from Camelot saw them both in a druid camp. "Your name is Heahstrengjuo right, I remember one of the elders calling you to help fight with the other druids against the knights." Merlin stated with some curiosity lingering in his voice. "Yes" he replied "I have been trying to find out as much information from this camp of bandits to get In tell on what they are planning to do so I could report back to the druids so they could warn you about the attack but since you are here there is no need to risk my cover being discovered trying to tell the others." He said a little hurriedly, because they had heard a noise in the distance just behind the tent on the other side. Then all of a sudden there was a cry not far from where they were and the camp was being over flow with knights from Camelot.

Kneeling behind a rock at the top of the hill above the camp of bandits Arthur and his knights stood watch to see what they were up to. "This is boring can't we just go down there and arrest them already, then we can go and find where ever Merlin's got to cause I'm pretty sure if he was back from where ever he got to he would have come after us by now like he always does" Gwaine said with a slight wine to his voice. "Gwaine will you shut up, we can't just go down into a camp of bandits and try and arrest them, its suicide and a rather stupid idea at that, I think you've been hanging around Merlin too much his ways are starting to rub off on you." Arthur pointed out to his knight, but he was right about Merlin normally if they were gone out and Merlin wasn't with them at the time he would eventually somehow catch up with them one way or another.

Thanks for reading, please review.


	2. Chapter 2

When Arthur and his knights over heard that the bandits were planning on destroying Camelot and that they were in league with Morgana, Arthur counted to see how many men that there were and how many extra he had brought with him just in case he decided that it was time to act and without even thinking twice he and the knights of Camelot were charging down on the camp.

* * *

"Emrys this is your chance, go run towards the hills I will make sure you aren't followed." Merlin tried to protest saying he needed to stay so his friends could find him, "If my friends find me I could warn them about them being sorcerers and if I know Arthur well enough he will leave not wanting to put any of his men in danger of magic" "But how do you know Arthur is here" Heahstrengjuo asked. Merlin replied with a grin "Because I'd know that prats battle cry anywhere" and with that he leapt up and ran out of the tent towards the fighting and towards his friends. In a last attempt to thank Heahstrengjuo he called out to him "_H__eahstrengjuo try and find a safe place to hide, I hope we meet again soon and thank you." _

* * *

Merlin nearly had his head chopped off when one of the bandits threw a knife his way trying to kill one of the knights of Camelot that looked far too familiar. "Lancelot, look out!" Merlin cried to his friend and without thinking his eyes glowed gold and he saved his friend with a protective shield. "Merlin where the hell have you been, and thanks for that!" He called back to warlock. "No problem, so what are you doing here? Look out!" Merlin asked with a warning. Lancelot dodged the man and struck him down with a blow to the head. They ran towards the hill where Arthur was fighting 3 bandits "byre cumen dynt hine béam" Merlin whispered his eyes glowed gold again and Lancelot just caught his friend say the spell when 2 of the 3 bandits went tumbling down the hill thanks to the little push of wind and with the distraction Arthur was able to kill the 3rd bandit. "Nice job Merlin" Lancelot praised his friend before pushing him out of the way when a bandit's sword swiped through the air and almost cut the warlocks arm off.

* * *

"Merlin where the hell did you come from!" Arthur cried as Merlin crashed into the bandit in front of him. "What do you think I've come from? I've been here the whole time!" Merlin shouted back while dodging a blow. "What are you talking about?" Arthur asked. "These bandits kidnapped me, I heard their plans they're on their way to Camelot and they have magic so I would suggest we get out of here!" Merlin said trying to pull him back towards the forest. "What! Fall back, fall back!" as he shouted to his men and started running back towards the horses. Making sure everyone was too busy either retreating or chasing after them Merlin making sure no one saw him before uttering "áþ þæm atol færdryre" and to his utter joy all the bandits either tripped over their own feet and tumbled down the side of the hill or for some strange reason they turned on each other and started slaughtering each other.

* * *

During the ride back to Camelot the remaining knights who to Merlin's relief were Lancelot, Percival, Gwaine, Elyan, Leon, and Arthur. "I wonder what made them turn on each other like that at the end." Gwaine mused out loud. The other knights look at each other all wondering the same thing except for Lancelot who was just trying to with hold a smirk in Merlin's direction, because he knew his friend too well not to have noticed that he had come straggling up well behind them after Arthur had called the retreat. He must have done something to make sure none of them made it out alive so that Camelot would remain safe. "Well whatever it was it was I bet it has something to do with magic" Arthurs stated. "What makes you say it was magic?" Merlin asked with an incredulous look on his face _did Arthur hear that the camp was full of sorcerers or did he happen to see him use magic to stop the bandits. _"Well while you were down in the camp being an held prisoner down there we over heard the saying they were going to attack Camelot and that they were in league with Morgana so I'm pretty sure they were magic, who else would Morgana join forces with." Elyan told Merlin "We are just lucky that they turned on each other, which just proves what my father always said that magic does dark things to people who decide to take the path of sorcery." Arthur stated flatly. This statement made Lancelot felt a twinge of guilt and sympathy in his stomach for Merlin, since he was right there and no one seemed to notice the young warlocks face harden and go slightly white with the bitterness in Arthurs voice. _I wonder what would happen to Merlin if Arthur ever did find out. _Lancelot wondered still looking at his friend who was riding a long in silence. "So what are we going to do about Morgana, if she's getting bandits to do her dirty work then she must be getting desperate' Lancelot said trying to get the conversation away from how evil magic was. Merlin gave him a thankful look and they all turned their attention back to Arthur who just sat on his horse trying to think of something to say. "I don't know, I really don't know" and with that they just rode on in silence till they saw the mighty Castle of Camelot.

Thanks for reading.


	3. Break

Hey guys! I need some inspiration on what to do in my upcoming chapters so I would really appreciate you guys to go to my profile and vote on who I should bring back next in the next chapter. Thanks


	4. Chapter 3

When they reached Camelot, just before dusk all the knights except for Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, Leon, and Arthur dispersed to go to bed. The rest of them including Merlin gathered in the Great Hall. Merlin asked a servant passing by to go tell Gaius that he was alright and that he would explain what happened later. When they all crowded into the throne room they went into the secret room behind the tapestry into the room that held the round table they all gathered around it and sat down.

"So what are we going to do about Morgana?" asked Percival. "Well I think that someone should tell me what's going on, and where you've all been," the voice of an irritate Gwen said as she marched into the room. Everyone smirked at the look one Arthurs face as his wife came in to the room. "I was going to send someone to tell you that I was home, but I never got the-" but he never got the chance to finish because she saw Merlin and then she saw that his shirt sleeve was torn off with a bloodied cloth raped around it.

"Merlin, what on earth happened to you!" she shrieked. She ran around the table to look at his arm, and then looked at her brother "what happened to you, I don't remember Merlin even leaving with you earlier, why is he injured?" "We got into a situation with- some people" Elyan said hesitating on the last bit. "What kind of people?" Gwen asked with an eyebrow that could rival Gaius's. "Just some of your typical average day magical bandits" Arthur said slightly cowering from the gaze his wife was giving him. "WHAT! You're telling me you went looking for bandits when you told me you were going to look for Merlin!" she said exasperatedly. "Well you see we heard that there were some troubles along the northern border and we decided to go have a look and this idiot over here" Merlin rolled his eyes so only Gwen could see it "somehow got captured by those exact same bandits we went to look for, so in the end we did end up looking for Merlin" he said.

"Come on Gwen, how about we go see Gaius and see if he can patch up my arm?" Merlin asked her trying to relieve some of the tension that was in the room. "You go ahead Merlin I'll be right behind you" she said looking daggers at Arthur, who just sat there trying not to look scared by his wife in front of his knights and friends who were all holding back snickers.

A Merlin went to leave Lancelot stood up "I think I will go with Merlin and then retire to bed myself, long day ahead I think." The two men left the room with the other knights standing up and saying their good nights as well. The last thing any of them heard was Arthur trying to calm down Gwen and they all knew that that was a very hard thing to do, especially when she has been lied to.

"So what really happened out there, why were you in that camp?" Lancelot asked Merlin with a hint of curiosity in his voice. The manservant looked at him and said "Well I didn't go looking for trouble if that's what you are implying," he said matter of fact voice. "I actually was just out picking herbs for Gaius when all of a sudden I have a dart in the back of my neck and then I woke up in the tent and you guy's swarming the camp." He said incredulously "Why the hell did you try and take on a camp of 50 or so magical bandits?" "Don't look at me ever since Uthur died Arthurs been acting strange towards magic and with his sister having magic and trying to destroy the kingdom every other day, I don't think he will ever open his heart to magic, sorry mate." As they walked into the physician quarters Merlin was practically knocked to the ground as Gaius came out of nowhere and slapped him over the head practically yelling "where the hell have you been!" "Good to see you to Gaius," the warlock look at Gaius sheepishly.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"So what happed out there Merlin" asked the physician bustling around the room looking for some herbs that would help with the bleeding. "I sent you out to get herbs and you come back 10 hours later with a gash in your arm, please tell me you didn't do anything stupid." Gaius asked his ward.

"Don't worry Gaius it wasn't too bad," Merlin said lying through his teeth but Gaius didn't believe him.

"Oh come off it Merlin, you were captured by magic using bandits and somehow how escaped with only a small gash, I'd say that was lucky for you mate. With that Merlin got another smack to the back of the head.

"Thanks a lot Lancelot; I was trying to avoid that." Merlin said glaring at his friend. "So why were you out there anyways?" he asked the knight.

"We had heard that there were bandits out near the northern boarders and we went to check it out and it turned out they had magic. We were about to leave when Arthur heard that they worked for Morgana and he just lost it and charged the camp. Good thing to or we wouldn't have found you." He said looking at his friend. "Also if it wasn't for you and your magic my friend we wouldn't have made it back in one piece."

"It was weird though there was this one man who knew exactly who I was; he knew I was Emrys and that I had contact with the druids." Merlin said with a sad look "I don't even know if he got away from the camp in time."

"It's okay mate it's not your fault you did a lot today including saving his royal ship again" Lancelot said with a laugh. Merlin smiled at this. With that Lancelot slapped him on the back and departed.

Mean while outside the physicians quarters Gwen stood there mouth open and stunned by what she had just over heard. She didn't believe it she didn't want to believe it. Lancelot had just said Merlin had magic; it couldn't be its impossible. She crept away from the door when she heard Lancelot stand up bidding them a good night and left the chambers. He didn't even notice Gwen standing only 3 feet behind the pillar. When she could no longer hear his footsteps she slipped out from behind the pillar and went to her room slipped underneath the covers and fell into a troubled sleep of Merlin having magic.

"What how could you be so worthless!" she yelled at the remaining bandits. "How could you let him escape? You call your selves sorcerers and you let a few knights from Camelot escape!" She paced back and forth in front of the cowering bandits who were begging for mercy.

"We are sorry my lady, they were aided by the boy we had captured hours before, he had magic and he used it to get free and escape with the knights and the king." One of the bandits said.

"Wait did this boy have black hair?" a nod "was he tall and skinny?" another head nod "was he wearing a red or blue shirt with a neck scarf?"

"Yes a red shirt blue scarf" the man kneeling in front of her said.

Thunder clapped above them and a roar of rage came from Morgana Pendragon. Merlin she'd know that description anywhere in all the 5 kingdoms, but it was impossible he couldn't have magic that bumbling idiot of a manservant didn't' have magic she wouldn't believe it.

"I guess you've served your purpose,feorh be mín brádhand!" she cried and the men slumped to the ground in front of her. She walked away from the dead men on the forest floor and headed towards her "home".

Merlin was on his was to Arthurs room with his breakfast when pulled behind a pillar, by Gwen. She looked scared of something but he couldn't tell what it was. "Gwen, what's wrong you look scared?" he asked her and she just shook her head and said "not hear meet me in the library when you're done with Arthur, I need to show you something. With that she walked off towards the library and Merlin was left standing by himself confused.

When he arrived in Arthur's chambers he set his food on the table and started to clean up the room when the door slammed shut behind him. It made him jump and he dropped everything that he was holding. He heard a groan come from behind him and he looked up to see Arthur standing there with an exasperated look on his face.

"You are a complete idiot, aren't you Merlin?" he said walking around the mess and going to change into his training gear.

"You're the one that startled me." Merlin said defensively picking up the things he had dropped.

"Don't be such a girl Merlin, and help me put my armor on I have to go train with the knights." Arthur said throwing his armor on his servant.

"Yes sir." Merlin said with a slight hiss in his voice. After he helped Arthur into his gear he finished cleaning up and left to go find Gwen in the library. When he got there he asked the librarian if he had seen Gwen and he pointed of towards the corner of the library where Merlin spent most of his time when he was down here.

"Merlin, there you are" he heard Gwen's voice say from behind a huge stack of books. Merlin made his way to her table. She was reading a book Merlin knew almost by heart; it was the history of ancient warlocks and sorcerers which included a very large section on Emrys.

"Gwen what are you doing with that book" he asked his stomach flipped at what possible reason Gwen had to all of a sudden want to read up on ancient warlocks and sorcerer.

She heard the nervous sound in his voice and that confirmed her guess of Merlin being a sorcerer. _I might as well tell him that I know then he can explain all this to me instead of trying to find out all of this Emry's stuff and the Once and Future King legend he was apparently apart of. _After a minute of Gwen just staring at him, he almost cracked, and then what Gwen said next shocked him even more.

"Merlin I know you have magic and I know you're Emrys"


	6. Chapter 5

**I'm really sorry it's been so long since i've updated, but i got caught up writing my other stories, please read and review. (and go to my pofile to read my other stories) :) **

Chapter 4

Merlin just stood there mouth opened, not moving a muscle trying to understand the words Gwen had just said _"Merlin I know you have magic and I know you're Emrys". _She couldn't know, how could she know.

"Merlin, are you okay?" Gwen asked slightly frightened. She had taken an awfully big risk in telling him that she knew his secret, but she wanted to know the truth and the only way she could learn the real truth was from Merlin himself. "If you're worried I'm going to tell Arthur of the King; not that the king could do much about it in his current state. But don't worry I'm not going to tell anyone."

Merlin still stood there still in shock about the fact that another one of his friends now knew his secret. _But this is bad, she thinks magic is evil, she might tell Arthur and Uther about it. I'll just have to try and lie my way out of this._ He was snapped of his worried thoughts by Gwen who was shaking him.

"Merlin! Merlin! Are you okay?" her voice had a hint of worry in it

"What, oh ya I'm fine. But who's this Emry's guy you're talking about?" He replied trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh don't lie to me Merlin, you're a terrible lier. And I overheard you last night talking with Gaius and Lancelot about how without your magic all of you wouldn't have made it back in one piece or something like that, but you didn't even deny it you just kept on talking about it." She said trying to keep herself from smacking him for not telling her sooner. He couldn't lie anymore she had enough evidence to get him killed and Lancelot and Gaius as well for keeping his secret.

"Please don't tell anyone, especially Arthur. He isn't ready to know the truth yet, especially not after his mother and father were both killed by magic and then he discovered Morgana has magic and that she was his step-sister and that I had known about both of those things for so long and then she betrayed Camelot out of hatred for her father." Merlin didn't know why he was telling her all of this, but it felt good to be able to talk to someone other than Gaius, Lancelot or Kilgharrah about it, he was surprised he hadn't gone mad yet.

"But if what Lancelot said was true about you being the only reason why everyone came home safe then Arthur would be grateful." Gwen said not understanding why he wouldn't go tell Arthur.

"Gwen if it were that simple I would have told him 3 years ago." At the confused look on her face he continued. "Gwen I've have saved his life and everyone in this kingdom so many times I've lost count. So if it were as simple as going up to Arthur and saying I have magic, but don't kill me because I have saved everyone in this kingdom so many times and that includes your royal backside as well, then I would have but it's not that simple. He isn't ready to know yet, and I don't think I'm ready for him to know, so could we please just keep this a secret between us?" he pleaded.

Gwen looked at the young Warlock and sighed "of course I'll keep your secret as long as you do one thing for me."

"Anything" he replied.

"You have to tell me everything there is to know about magic, your magic, about Emrys, and this destiny about the once and future king and how you will help him create the land of Albion." She said looking up at him hopefully. He looked at her and laughed

"Is that it, oh that's easy but let's start tomorrow. Just because you found out about my magic doesn't mean Gaius will be any less mad about me not getting him more supplies." He laughed and they walked out of the library and said good night and went their separate ways.

"Where have you been?" Gaius asked from behind his work bench where he was mixing up a foul smelling concoction.

"What on earth is that?" Merlin cried as he got closer and then stumbled back from the puttered smell that was emanating for the vile.

"It's a remedy for some people in the lower town. Now where have you been all night?" he asked impatiently.

"I ran into Gwen in the library, and she somehow overheard our conversation last night and found out I have magic, do we have any bread I'm starving" he said in a rush.

"She found out you have magic?" Gaius cried in horror. "What did you say?"

"I told her the truth, in the end she didn't believe me when I said I had no idea what she was talking about. But don't worry she promised not to tell Arthur as long as I tell her some things about magic and about the prophecy." Merlin said walking towards his room.

"I hope she keeps her word and not just for your sake but for the sake of everyone in Camelot" Gaius said. And with that Merlin went to bed and Gaius returned to making the remedy for the sick.


End file.
